Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart: Epilogue
by sonicking2004
Summary: Jack's quest to find Acacia has ended in disaster as Joe has effectively poisoned her mind against him. To make matters worse, Jack found upon his return that his mom had died in prison protecting him. How much more can his broken heart take? *This is the way I feel the movie should have really ended*


**True Heart**

Jack had thought his heart could not be any more broken, figuratively or literally. However, as he stood on that hill looking on his mother's grave, Jack felt the last piece of light within him shatter. He had lost his beloved Acacia because he'd been too afraid and hesitant to share with her all the details of his life, and so Joe was able to poison her mind against him by twisting those details to his favor. And now, after traveling all the way back home, his cuckoo clock heart a wreck in his chest, Jack had learned that his mother had died alone in prison. Jack's Aunts and Grandfather were still here, remaining in the house mere yards away to give Jack a moment alone to pay his respects to his mother, but Jack never felt more alone in this world.

As he turned from his mother's grave to gaze at the snow falling on the town below, Jack felt colder than ever inside and out. Finally, strength and hope gone, he dropped to the ground and let the heaviness on his eyes win out, falling into unconsciousness.

Jack didn't know how long he sat there in the snow, but the first sign of awareness he had was the sound of an angel calling his name. He still felt himself freezing, but this familiar sounding angel's voice made him feel somewhat warmer inside. When he felt the warm touch on his leg then his face, Jack found the strength to open his eyes and was surprised to see his beloved Acacia before him. _This must be a dream, _Jack thought, not believing what his eyes were trying to tell him, _or I'm dead. Either way, I don't care anymore. So long as I can see her looking at me that way again, it's worth it._

Jack then saw her reach into her pocket and retrieve the face of his clock that had blown off before she fit it back in place. _She'd kept it, _Jack thought in amazement, _She'd found it and brought back here, she must still care! _When Jack saw Acacia reach inside her coat to retrieve the key he'd entrusted to her, Jack reached out to stop her. Even though the clock face was back in place, Jack could feel that his heart was missing a number of cogs inside, and his heart was unstable enough when it was still whole. If Acacia wound it up now and Jack let his emotions spin out of control again, as was bound to happen, then his heart would surely blow and harm her. He would not let that happen, it's better now that his winding is about exhausted.

"I'm not too late," Acacia pleaded with him, "I came back to save you."

"You already have," Jack assured her, feeling happier in these final moments with her than he'd felt his entire life.

"No, please listen to me," Acacia tried again, "Let me give your heart a turn with the key."

"You came all the way back for me," Jack told her, feeling warmer inside, "That's the most extraordinary turn you could have given my heart." As he took his clock key back from Acacia, Jack told her, "Thank you." Then, despite her protests, Jack threw his key far away. When Acacia tore her eyes away from the vanished key to meet Jack's again he continued, "From now on, whatever happens to me, I'll only have myself to blame. Now you can kiss me."

As Acacia stared into his eyes in shock, clearly torn between the temptation to take Jack up on his invitation and the desperate desire to search for the key and save him, Jack felt the hands on his clock move fitfully and begin moving faster and faster. Know his end was nigh, Jack took advantage of Acacia's inaction and tenderly removed her glasses. Jack saw Acacia's breath speed up and felt his own breath quicken to match. Finally, their mutual attraction won out and their lips closed the distance between them. As the whirlwind of emotions within him caused him to see fireworks go off behind his closed eyes, Jack felt himself grow so warm that he no longer felt the cold of the air and snow. The only thing that felt real to him was the warmth of Acacia in his arms, the tenderness of her embrace on his shoulders.

After what seemed like an eternity, the sound of the wind stopped. In fact, it seemed as though he heard no other noise anymore. Even his heart had stopped ticking. As he pulled away, he saw his beloved still sitting there in the position she'd been in as he was kissing her, as well as the snowflakes hanging motionless in the air, and he realized he'd come to the end. He took her hand in one of his and fondly caressed her cheek with his other, wanting to tell her just how happy she'd made him but finding any words woefully inadequate. Then he released her and climbed up on his mother's grave marker to reach one of the snowflakes hanging in the air. Once he found it held his weight, he pulled himself up to grab another then another, climbing ever higher in the air.

Jack turned back once to look down at Acacia, tempted to return and spend another moment with her. However, the compulsion he felt to climb even higher was stronger still, so Jack returned his gaze to the sky as he continued his ascent. Jack had expected it to get colder as he climbed higher, as he'd learned in school it was supposed to, but instead he felt warmer. It wasn't mere heat either, as it warmed every part of him, every hidden alcove in his body, mind and heart, chasing away every ounce of anger and sadness he'd ever felt, leaving only happiness and love behind, and Jack could swear that he felt his heart beating faster in response. Not merely ticking, as it had as long as he could remember, but actually beating as he had felt in other people's chests.

Finally, after a long climb that didn't feel nearly long enough, Jack found himself above the storm, in a area that was light and clouds as far as he could see. A short distance in front of him Jack saw an enormous gate, more grand and beautiful than any he'd ever seen in his life, and standing to one side was a beautiful specimen of a man. Not handsome, as he might apply to some of those he had come across in his travels, but beautiful. This man seemed to glow from within by an inner light, the same kind that lit this wondrous place and made the air practically sing, and he had a magnificent pair of wings upon his back. They didn't look odd on him or appear out of place, as did similar features on the traveling oddities that lived in the circus where Acacia had worked, but instead they looked as a natural part of him, and Jack felt a momentary sense of being out of place that he didn't have his own pair.

However, Jack's brief focus on this man was cut short as his gaze was drawn to a smaller figure standing before the gates. At first he didn't recognize this young woman, with her rather light-brown hair and flawless complexion. But then he looked into her eyes as she smiled at him, looking both happy and sad at the same time, and something sparked within him.

"Mother!" Jack cried out as he raced towards her, and she kneeled down to take him into her embrace.

"Oh, Jack! I'm so happy to see you again!" Jack heard her say in his ear as her tears fell on his shoulder, then she pulled back to arms length to look him in he eyes as she said, "But it's too soon! Far too soon! Jack, what are you doing here?"

"I…I'm sorry, Mother," Jack mumbled as he cast his eyes down, feeling shame as he recalled what it was that brought his life to a close, "I….I couldn't…"

"Never mind that now," Madeleine said as she pulled his chin back up to look in his eyes, "Can you forgive me, Jack? Can you forgive this foolish woman for doing such a poor job as your mother?"

"What? How can you say that?" Jack asked her, shocked, "You were a wonderful mother! I could not have asked for any better. I was the one who failed to follow the three rules you set for me. It was my fault that I ended up here now, not yours."

"That's very sweet, and I'm happy to hear you say that, but I'm afraid that's not true," Madeleine countered.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked her confusion.

"The three rules I'd set for you were merely to be a guideline, a safety net for you to protect you when you were younger," Madeleine explained soberly, "I had always meant to replace your cuckoo clock heart with one that would be better able to deal with the turbulent emotions life throws our way. I had not expected to grow as attached to you as I had, you had filled my life with such joy. As you grew older I began to fear that you would end up leaving me."

"Just like Grandpa said," Jack whispered in realization.

Madeleine nodded in shame as she continued, "The rules I'd once used to protect you wound up become my lifeline instead. I had forgotten about making you a better heart and instead kept you from living a full live. That was horrible of me. I should not have kept you from finding true love, the kind of love I had never known until you entered my life."

"I love you too, and you were a great mother: you only wanted the best for me," Jack insisted, "Anyway, I managed to find that love you were talking about before the end, so I have no regrets."

"No, my love, it's not your time yet. You must go back," Madeleine countered.

"No, I don't want to lose you again," Jack argued gently, "Besides, my clock's completely broken, so I couldn't go back even if I wanted to."

"Your mother's right, it's too soon for you to be here. You're still needed back home," Jack heard a voice behind his mother say. At first he thought it was the angel who spoke, but then he realized that the voice was female. Looking over his mother's shoulder, Jack saw a young woman with reddish-brown hair and skin like cream.

"Who is that?" Jack asked his mom.

"That is Heidi," Madeleine told him, "your real mother."

"My….real mom?" Jack asked in confusion and disbelief.

"I am the one who gave birth to you, yes, and you had grown to be even more handsome than I had ever imagined," Heidi told him as she walked forward to get a better look at him, "but I feel I must correct Madeleine in her assumption that she wasn't a real mother to you. She had raised you far better than I ever could."

"But why couldn't you?" Jack asked her, "Not that I ever regretted being brought up by Mom, but why couldn't you raise me?"

"I was poor, even before your father dumped me to chase after some other girl," Heidi told him, "I could not even afford to pay for some doctor to help me deliver you into this world. That was why I had walked so far on that coldest of days to Madeleine's house. Despite the reputation that she had around the town, I went there because I'd heard she never turns anyone away. When I saw how she was with you, I knew that she'd be the one best suited to bringing you up right, that she would love you as much as I did, and I was right."

"Then why did you leave?" Jack asked again, "If you loved me, then why did you leave me?"

"It was because I loved you that I left you with her," Heidi answered him, "After your father abandoned me, I was living on the streets and only got by due to the pity others had taken on a pregnant woman such as myself. I did not live for much longer I left, and I do not believe I would have lasted much longer if I'd kept you with me, nor would you have survived either then. Even if we had survived till the day you were old enough to better handle caring for yourself, life on the streets is no place for a growing boy such as yourself. You have too good a heart to have to resort to have to doing such things as robbing people or conning them out of their money. You deserved the best start in life, and I saw that in Madeleine, or am I wrong, Jack?"

When Jack smiled at the woman who raised him and shook his head in agreement, Heidi also looked at Madeleine as she said to her, "I know you had made a mistake or two in raising Jack. You would not be human if you had not with your first child, nor would you be a well suited mother if the thought of parting with him did not bother you. However, it is apparent just how much you loved him, and that is what every child deserves most of all."

Madeleine nodded and dabbed a tear from the corner of her eye as she said, "He was my entire world. I could not bear the thought of my life without him."

"I understand, believe me," Heidi assured her, "My decision wasn't easy for me either, but it helped me to know that I was leaving Jack with someone who would do for him what I could not. That is why I admired you just now. Though it would be easier in some ways for us both if Jack remained here with us, you knew that it was not best for Jack and you told him to return." Heidi then turned back towards Jack and continued, "And that is what you must do. You need to go back and live the life we both had sacrificed so much to ensure you had."

"Thank you, both of you, but I can't," Jack said as he smiled at both of his mothers, "My heart, you see…it's gone."

Heidi smiled first at Jack, then she continued smiling as she turned towards Madeleine and said, "Show him."

Jack looked on in confusion as Madeleine kneeled before him and ran her hands over the cloudy surface, as if she were smoothing out the wrinkles in a tablecloth, then he gasped in awe as the translucent surface between her hands suddenly became clear. It was like he could see for miles from up here, and what was more he could see everything in detail. Looking one way, Jack saw a bunch of kids playing in his old school yard, and in another Jack saw his old nemesis Joe raging and fuming as he rode alone in his carriage.

"You see, Jack?" his mother Madeleine told him, "You can see everything from up here. Nothing is hidden from our view up here, not what takes place behind locked doors, nor what happened in the past." Madeleine then adjusted her position and said to jack, "Here, take a look."

Jack looked where his mother directed him to and he saw inside his old room on the house on the hill. There he saw himself lying on his old bed while a man leaned over him. Jack could not see his face but he noticed that his close cropped brown hair was still damp and windswept from the storm, as was the simple and functional yet unusual garb he wore. They weren't the only ones in the room either, as Jack's family and Acacia were gathered around this man as he worked tirelessly on Jack's heart. Occasionally one of his aunts would hand the man a part or tool, but they mostly stayed near his grandpa to give him comfort, none of their eyes dry. Jack's main focus was drawn to Acacia, however, as he saw she was encircled by her own thorny vine while she sobbed piteously into her hands despite one of his aunts patting her on the back comfortingly.

"Acacia," Jack said morosely, his heart breaking again at the sight.

"As you can see, Jack, there are those on Earth who still love and care for you," Heidi told him, "They are working feverously to bring you back, and they will if you let them."

"Really?" Jack asked her.

Madeleine nodded as she added, "Up here I had seen that young girl Acacia had a much harder life than yours, having been orphaned at such a young age when the constables hauled her mother away, and I knew what pain I'd caused you both when I'd tore the two of you apart. No one can force you to go, but if you stay it may hurt her more than she'll ever be able to recover from. I've done my best to help you to survive, but the time has come now for you to truly live."

Jack looked back and forth between his mothers as he asked, "Can I?"

"That, my boy, is up to you," Jack heard the melodic voice of the angel answer, "Your mother's guidance has helped you to live well, you not done anything seriously wrong on purpose, felt regretful for that which happened by accident, and even chose to sacrifice your life to safeguard that of the one you love. You have earned a place here, should you choose to remain."

Jack glanced between his kindly smiling mothers and the sight of Acacia mourning him before he turned back towards the angel and asked, "Will I ever be able to come back here?"

"That is again dependent on you," the angel told him, "If you remain true to His will, remain faithful to the one you choose, and do your utmost to help rather than harm others, then there's no reason you should not find your way back here again once your time once more comes."

"Just remember that, even though you don't see us, we will always be watching over you," Heidi told him with a smile .

"And that we will always love and be proud of you, my son," Madeleine added.

Jack took a deep breath, then let it out in a sigh as he smiled and looked at his mothers as he said, "Then I'm ready to go back. How do I do that?"

The angel smiled at him and answered, "Wake up."

* * *

><p>Jack became aware of a sensation like the weight of the world was on him, particularly on his chest and eyes. As he struggled to open his eyes, Jack involuntarily let out a groan as that pressure then translated itself into pain. As his eyes worked to focus on the figure before him, Jack heard an unfamiliar voice say, "Good morning, sleepyhead. Welcome back to the land of the living."<p>

When Jack finally managed to focus on the one who spoke, Jack saw a handsome young man not much older than Jack sitting in a chair beside his bed. At first Jack thought he was still dead, as this man was nearly as handsome as the angel he'd seen with his mothers. But then he saw the tiny wrinkles in the corners of this man's eyes, which together with the lack of wings indicated that the man was arguably human. When Jack noticed the man's hair and unusual garments, he recognized this man as the one he's seen in his mothers' visions as the one who was working to bring him back.

As Jack became aware of Acacia's presence in the room, Jack felt a twinge of jealousy at how much more handsome this man was more than he. However, Jack had not much time to dwell on the feeling as the air was shattered by the squeals of his aunts as they swarmed him from both sides, smothering him with hugs and kisses and sobbing over him. Finally one of his aunts got her self together enough to turn her tear streaked face towards the male stranger and said, "You did it Doctor, you brought him back! You're a genius, thank you!"

The young man smiled back at her as he corrected her, "As I had told you before I'm no doctor. I'm merely good with my hands, especially when it comes to metal and moving parts. Your late sister Madeleine was the real genius. I was amazed when you told me that clock had kept him alive all this time in place of his heart, but Jack sitting up before us is living proof of that fact."

"Still, you brought our Jack back to us, and for that we could not think you enough," Jack's other aunt told him gratefully, and the young man nodded in acknowledgement.

Jack looked down at his chest and saw that his cuckoo clock was gone. In its place was a pocket watch, similar to the style that Jack had seen many gentlemen use, although this one had a few more hands and dials beneath the glass dome covering its face. This watch was supported by an elaborate framework that Jack could feel filling the gaps of where the cuckoo clock used to be, and that framework was covered with the same flesh-colored felt that was on the outer surface of the watch's hinged cover.

As Jack ran his fingers over this new addition in his chest, he felt a hand rest on the crown of his head, and he looked and saw his grandfather smiling down at him. "How are you feeling, my boy?" Jack's grandfather asked him, tears streaming down his face.

"Like I've just had every fight I've ever had with Joe all over again, and had lost every one, but otherwise all right," Jack admitted.

Jack's grandfather nodded and smiled as he said, "That boy might deny that he's a genius, but there's no doubt that he knows his stuff. After he replaced your clock and made sure you were stable, he went and fixed my back. Used some sort of special oil that removed the rust on my spine and said that it would prevent any new rust from forming for around 20-30 years, can you believe it? Of course I don't see myself being around for that long, but I haven't felt this good in years. We were all lucky he happened to be passing by when he did."

Jack nodded in agreement, then he noticed that Acacia hadn't joined their group. She was still sitting in the same position Jack had saw her upon waking, with the chair turned so her back was facing him, and both she and the chair were so densely wrapped in thorny vines that anyone else viewing her from a distance might have mistaken her for a potted plant. Gingerly Jack eased himself out of bed, wincing slightly when the weight shifted to his foot caused a pin and needle sensation to erupt throughout his entire body, then he turned down his grandfather's steadying hand as he slowly made his way over to Acacia. Reaching out his hand towards her as he tentatively called out, "Acacia…?"

"How could you do that to me?" Acacia asked him without turning to look at him, her voice apparently thick from crying. When Jack didn't answer, his hand frozen mere inches from making contact, Acacia continued, "You just gave up. You wouldn't let me save you and just let yourself die. How could you leave me alone like that?"

"I'm sorry, but my heart was just too broken. If you wound it up and it went out of control again it might have went and hurt you seriously or worse. I could not live with that," Jack explained, then he looked down at the floor as he continued, "Besides, you deserve someone much better than me, someone who's whole and can love you fully…"

"And what about what I think, huh!?" Acacia burst out angrily as she spun out of the chair to stand and glare at him, the motion combined with the vines wrapped around it caused the chair to fly towards and splinter against the wall that was now behind her. As Jack looked into those eyed he adored, which were now red from crying, Acacia continued, "Don't you think I get to choose who it is I love!? Do you honestly believe I could have went on in this world with you gone? If that man had not saved you when he had, I honestly don't know what I would have done."

As Jack's mind whirled trying to come up with an argument that would sway Acacia from this train of thought, he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. Stealing a glance, Jack saw the male stranger shaking his head "no" shortly before he leaned in and said quietly into Jack's ear, "Trust me, lad, this is one argument you're never going to win. It's better if you just nod and say, 'You're right, I'm sorry.' "

Jack sighed deeply before focusing on Acacia and saying, "You're absolutely right, I shouldn't have done that to you. I'm sorry, forgive me?"

The vines receded somewhat as Acacia said in a pleading tone, "Just promise me you will never do that to me again."

Jack hesitated for only half a second before saying, "Okay, I promise." Then the thorny vines vanished completely as Acacia smiled hugely and tightly embraced Jack in her trembling arms, an embrace he immediately returned.

"Not that it'll come to that, mind you," the man said as he packed his things into a small bag, "as that timepiece is of the finest craftsmanship you'll find anywhere. It may not have the same charm as your old cuckoo clock, but it'll last far longer and should not require any maintenance as long as you're alive. You won't even need to wind it, as the kinetic force of your natural motions like walking will keep it wound for you. I've even specially modified it to be better able to handle how emotions like fear, anger and love would make your heart race. While not losing your temper is still a good habit to keep, the only rule I would recommend you still follow is the one about not adjusting the hands of your watch, as it is not there to keep the time but to maintain the time you have left."

"Really? Thanks!" Jack said gratefully as he looked down at his new heart with new appreciation, wondering just how much of this his mothers had a hand in.

"Oh. One more thing," the man said as he picked up his bag, "You don't have to worry anymore about the constables arresting you or anything. It seems that the mates of your old friend Joe had testified against him about what had really happened to his eye and how it came to that point. I guess your mother dying alone in prison gave them a change of heart and jumpstarted their conscience. Now the constables are looking for Joe instead, seeking to bring him up on charges of assault with deadly intent. They may still have some questions about your side of the story, but since they concluded you were only defending yourself as far as they're concerned you're a free man."

As Jack's aunts and grandfather exclaimed happily and one of them said "That's wonderful news!" Acacia looked down in confusion as she said, "But Joe had told me that he wanted to take me back home to Edinburgh in order to start over."

"That part of his story was obviously a lie, as he would be arrested the moment he set foot in town," the man explained to her, "He was probably planning to 'just happen' upon a quaint little cottage along the way and suggest that you guys settle down there instead. No, he fled the moment his mates squealed on him and now will likely be running for the rest of his life. Now if you'll excuse me I really must be going."

"Are you sure we can't impose on you to stay the night? It's getting really cold out and we can have a hot dinner prepared for you," one of Jack's aunts asked the man.

"That very generous of you, but I must decline," the stranger responded, "I was in the middle of a quest when I happened upon you people, and it's high time I returned to it." As he stepped out the door and turned towards the front entrance, though, he stopped for a moment and looked around, saying to no one in particular, "This in an interesting place you folks live in. Should my quest go well and I have the time after, I would not mind coming back for a visit."

Acacia looked around at the others, who all nodded before she said, "We would like that very much, kind sir."

"Absolutely," Jack said gratefully as Acacia melted into his one armed embrace, "and thank you once again, for everything."

"It was my pleasure," the man said with a smile of his own, and Jack could have sworn that he saw a spark of electricity shoot in between his eyes as he continued, "and please, call me Julian."

* * *

><p><em>"The true mind can weather all lies and illusions without being lost.<em>

_The true heart can touch the poison of hatred without being harmed._

_Since the beginning of time, Darkness has thrived in the void,_

_But always yields to purifying light."_

* * *

><p><em>Julian will appear again in "Big Hero 6: Storm and Fury"<em>


End file.
